Okay, for most this is old hat. But just for the newbies and people who have a general interest in how we do what we do.
After you purchase a new hookah, the most important thing to remember is to wash it thoroughly. You have no idea where this hookah has been or whether its parts are even from the same country. There could be germs from all over, so give it a good scrub. I recommend a mild detergent as you don’t want to leave any detergent smell anywhere inside the hookah components.
After a good scrubbing and drying, you are now ready to assemble your hookah for use. Take your vase and put several ice cubes in through the opening at the top. Now, add distilled or purified water to the vase until it is roughly three to four inches full. This level will depend on the depth and size of your vase, and, the length of your stem.
Make sure your gasket is fitted tightly around your stem base. Then, take the stem and attach it to the stainless steel threaded rod by screwing it in. This rod will be what actually goes into your vase. Now, insert the stem into the vase. Make sure that your internal stem is at least an inch and a half into the water. Once again, this will vary depending and the size and depth of your vase and the length of your stem.
At this point, I like to attach my charcoal try and light my coals. This way, they are getting hot while I am packing my bowl. After lighting the coals, set them in the charcoal tray. Be careful when touching the tray now, because the coals will get the metal VERY hot.
Take your shisha(Hookah tobacco) and lay a small amount, rough 15 to 20 grams on a piece of wax paper. I usually use the shisha lid for this purpose. Move the shisha around between your thumb and forefinger to loosen it up and to give it some body. This will allow air to flow more freely through the shisha when you are smoking. This is also an important step if you are mixing two or more flavors of shisha. You want to make sure the flavors are completely mixed.
Now add the shisha to the bowl so that it just rises above the bowl. Take a piece of aluminum foil and tightly secure it around the top of the bowl. Make the fit as taut as possible by pulling down on the outside of the bowl several times, all around the bowl. Take a safety pin and make tiny holes in the top of the foil until it looks like the coals will allow air in, but won’t actually touch the shisha. Place the bowl on top of the stem securely and, using your tongs, place the coals on top of the foil.
Take your hose and plug it into the stem base. You are now ready to smoke! Enjoy!
For more information on the hookah lifestyle, go here.
Until next time, remember: Life is too short to smoke cheap shisha!
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